Carry the gospel with you

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

Reflection on the gospel reading: Jesus in today’s gospel indicates that we Christians enjoy a real advantage in the gift of the Scriptures and the Church’s teaching. But with this advantage comes a greater responsibility for the weight of the wrongs we do are greater than the weight of the equivalent wrong of others who, as either non-Christians or non-religious people, do not have the benefit of knowing the Lord. The gospel is a gift and carrying it with us is our privilege, so our failures sting harder because the light we have seen is brighter.

Saint of the day: Paul Tong Viet Buong was born around 1773 (some say 1782) in the city of Hue, where his family were teachers employed at the court of the emperor. He later served in the imperial troops. He defended villages against invading marauders, and his brave deeds were made known to the Emperor. Emperor Minh Mang then recruited him into his Imperial Guards and soon made him the Praetor of Imperial Guards. He met the priests of the Paris Foreign Missions and became a Catholic, later refusing to persecute Catholics. He was questioned by the Emperor if he had visited the local pagodas. At first, he avoided the questions by saying that without his Majesty’s commands, he would not visit the pagodas. After being pressed several times, he confessed that his Christian belief did not allow him to visit pagodas or worship other gods.

Paul was then arrested and forced to act as a servant to other noblemen. When these noblemen tried to protect him the emperor had him imprisoned, tortured, and beheaded. His head was displayed in pubic at Tho Duc parish as warning to Catholics who defied royal decrees. Paul Tong Viet Buong was canonized in 1988 along with the other 116 Vietnamese Martyrs.

Spiritual reading: The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet. (James Oppenheim)